For months and months, people have asked, “Hey, Dion, what do you think about the Redskins? When are you going to speak about the Washington football team’s upcoming football season?”
Well, here it is….
Washington training camp for the 2017 season kicked off on Thursday, July 27 in Richmond, Va., and I don’t give a s*%*t.
(AP Photo/Bob Leverone)
Like, honestly! Why do we even care at this point? I sure don’t.
This sh*t show of a franchise continues to steal headlines from other worthwhile Washington franchises year after year after year. And, for what? To be eternally disappointed in December – or if they are so lucky, the first week of January.
At this point, honestly, everything about my favorite team makes my skin crawl. Nothing about this team makes me care any more than I did the day before.
How many times do we have to hear about some dude that will eventually suck having “the best off-season in his career?” So many crap stories abound about such and such “having a great training camp” or “being in the best shape of his life!”
How many times do I have to witness pointless arguments on social media between friends/Twitter followers about some random, fifth-round scrub while they “break down film” of useless crap like their combine numbers and YouTube highlight reels, only for the season to unfold with the team stumbling and clawing their way to another 7-9 disaster of a season?
How often do we have to see the “adults” of the organization continue to have misstep after misstep in the media?
Consider the fallout of the former General Manager Scot McCloughan fiasco and the poor handling of his situation – which we STILL haven’t gotten to the bottom of. The end seemed ugly, didn’t it? McCloughan was told not to speak to the media, he didn’t go to his (and Washington fans’) beloved scouting combine, and was let go at the start of NFL free agency amid anonymous reports that alcohol was at least partly to blame for his release. Why are there anonymous reports about that man’s personal life? Only in D.C. will there be an acrimonious ending after only two seasons to the best talent evaluator this franchise has had on the payroll since the heyday of Bobby Beathard.
Then you have this whole Kirk Cousins fiasco. Look, I like Kirk. I really do. But c’mon, folks, it’s easy to bash the team for not re-signing Kirk to a long-term deal two summers ago. I totally understand. Team brass gambled on Cousins to suck and he didn’t, and now he’s cashing in – our fault entirely. But, I can totally understand why owner Daniel Snyder and team president Bruce Allen are apprehensive on paying Cousins such an exorbitant deal.
Now, the powers-that-be had no right to “air its dirty laundry” after the fact with that stupid team-issued statement about what did or didn’t happen during negotiations. Do you see Pittsburgh’s GM issuing statements trying to discredit LeVeon Bell? Of course not, because the Steelers have a top-notch franchise there.
Not us here in D.C. Our team continues to do the most stupid stuff like clockwork.
Business is business, so Kirk will eventually sign a humongous contract, which could exceed almost $30 million a season next year, with $75 million guaranteed the moment he puts his signature on paper. That’s a lot of money for a middling quarterback.
The No. 1 argument for ponying up the money (and rightly so) is that the team hasn’t had any quarterback worth anything since Brad Johnson, so we must secure his services for the greater good of the franchise.
But what is that “greater good” for the franchise? Is it having a random 9-7 season with a divisional title before losing to a better wild-card team in your own home? Is it having multiple opportunities to qualify for the playoffs at home and completely sh*tting on yourself on national TV and missing out on the opportunity to have back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since 1992?
I just want to know what the are expectations for Cousins in what seems like the final stages of his tenure in D.C.
I say that because if Cousins truly wanted to stay in the district, wouldn’t you maybe, uhhh, after the initial offer was put on the desk of your agent, give your counter-offer to the Washington brass? Isn’t that called negotiating? You receive your low-ball offer, you make your offer upon receiving said offer, and you eventually meet somewhere in the middle, right?
But this never happened. So the writing is on the wall, and we all deserve it. It’s fitting. When I watch Cousins, I see a solid yet unspectacular player, and that’s OK. It’s only maybe 10 people on the planet that you can really trust to go win you a ballgame with his arm and physical talent. Cousins has neither.
Cousins has had the luxury of having arguably the best receiving corps in football. With an elite deep threat receiver like Desean Jackson taking the top of the zone, a top-rated tight end like Jordan Reed beating any linebacker in coverage and good complementary receivers like Pierre Garcon and Jamison Crowder killing No. 2 and nickel corners on a consistent basis, Cousins thrived. But the issue for Cousins is this: can he make big time throws when it matters?
When Cousins tossed that horrible interception to end Washington’s season against the Giants last year, the simple fact he tossed the interception wasn’t the problem – those things happen. The issue is nobody who was watching the game had any confidence in Kirk actually winning this game. Not with all the pressure of the moment. ZERO confidence. His eyes tell it all, and that look in his eyes is the reason so many fans like myself are simply “sick of it!”
So let’s all be prepared for the local media to fluff up Washington’s draft picks (I do love the Jonathan Allen selection in the first round this past draft…could end up a steal). Let’s all be prepared for running back Samaje Perine, our third round selection from Oklahoma, to become this year’s darling and win the running back job within Week 3 because last season’s darling Matt Jones can’t even see the field. Let’s see if we can finally get one of these cheap free agent pickups to eventually standout and become a real player and not just a one-year fiasco of ineptitude that we have had the displeasure to watch year after year after year.
I say all of this to say…I lied! I do care. I care enough to call out the team’s bullsh*t.
Hail.
